Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VLO. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $179.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $172.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $150.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $158.64 and a 200-day moving average of $149.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $108.28 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 17.32 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VLO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $570,428,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 12,883.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $136,157,000 after buying an additional 1,039,293 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after buying an additional 517,068 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after buying an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,655,000 after buying an additional 376,449 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.